Leaves from the Vine
by SakuraMusic
Summary: It has been almost a year since the battle with Pitch. Now the Boogeyman is back, literally leaving a mark on Mother Nature. With the Guardians' help, Natty, Mother Nature's apprentice, may be able to save Mother Nature and possibly the man inside Pitch, Kozmotis Pitchiner.
1. Chapter 1: Threat on the Rise

**Ok felt like doing this when I found out that Pitch had a daughter in the books. Probably is not going follow the book entirely since I may not have the opportunity to read it and fully get the gist of what's going on in there. Hope you guys R&R!**

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In a secret forest, hidden to the naked eye, a beautiful woman is guiding the display before her. Pieces of darkness sparked in the night as they follow the wind as it breezes through her long black hair and elegant flowing dress of clouds. She is standing in the middle of a pond, using the large lily pads to support her weight.

With a flick of her wrist, the particles are blown away, out of the hidden sanctuary to the corners of the Earth. There they will grow into the many plants people see in their lives. That was the duty of Mother Nature.

With her task done, the woman sighed as she sat by a nearby tree, the largest one that grew in her domain. She looked into a small hole where something twinkled inside. She drew her hand closer to the tree and the hole grew wider. When she let her hand slip through the opening she removed it with the glimmering object in hand.

Opening her palm, a locket rested there. It was gold with an intricate design on the cover. She didn't need to open the locket; she already knew what was inside.

"How many years has it been…?"

Suddenly, an opening in the trees began to form, with the sound of the rustling leaves alerting Mother Nature. She looked up and saw the full moon a sign that her old friend, the Man in the Moon (or as she called him MiM), wanted to speak with her. A beam of moonlight was aimed towards the pond Mother Nature was stood at.

After placing the necklace around her neck, Mother Nature walked towards the pond as she stared at the moon.

"Hello there MiM, it's been a while since we last talked hasn't it."

The beam of light slightly shakes up and down signaling a nod. The light then moves to the necklace around the woman's neck. She looks down at the piece of jewelry and her once content face has turned forlorn.

"I am grateful that you took me in MiM, truly. It is just that, will I ever see him again? Will I ever see papa?"

Just then, the opening that the moonbeam shined through was blocked. Mother Nature looked up to see black sand moving around between the shadows. The sand came together and started to form together into the shape of a tall slender man. The sand dispersed to reveal Pitch Black, who many know by the Boogeyman.

"Pitch, what are you doing here? This is not your domain to be in."

"Why, is that anyway to greet an old friend Nature? I just thought I'd stop by for a visit."

Mother Nature gave Pitch a glare while one hand slowly reached into a pouch on the waist of her dress.

"Quit the act Boogeyman, I've heard of your recent escapade with the Guardians. Why did you come here?"

"I will admit that was not one of my best. But I thought that why bring fear to just the children when I could bring fear to the world."

"What are you getting at Pitch…?"

"You control the weather, the seasons, you are connected to the world itself. You think about it."

The hand that she had placed in the pouch came out with a few seeds. She brought her arm across her body and threw the seeds towards the Boogeyman.

"I will not let you endanger this world!"

The seeds landed in front of Pitch and spontaneously grew into large vines. They wrapped themselves around Pitch keeping him in place. The Boogeyman just smirked at this as his black sand gathered near his bound hands.

"You think these little weeds can stop me?"

The sand formed into a large scythe and cut away the plant freeing him. The bits of vines withered away and were absorbed by the ground alone.

While Pitch gave her a mocking smirk, Mother Nature's glare became even more intimidating.

"I didn't want to do this but if it's a fight you want then it's a fight you'll get."

She lifted her arm straight up as a gale rocked through the forest.

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Meanwhile in another part of the forest, animals were scurrying about. Different species were around, from the common rodent, to the thought to be extinct bird, to the unexplainable mythical creature.

In the trees, a figure, too big to be a rodent but too slim to be a large mammal, swung about the trees. The creature gracefully landed on the ground to be revealed to be a young woman around the age of 20. Her brown hair appeared to be the color of lacquered wood. The shirt of leaves she wore was covered by a large pink flower acting as a poncho. The long skirt made of ivy that she wore was cut on one leg, rested right on the edge of her hips as a string pouches acted as a belt. Thin vines of ivy were wrapped around her arms and legs as she walked towards the animals.

With a cheerful but quiet voice the girl spoke to the animals around her.

"Alright guys time to get to sleep. Spring is almost here. You all want Cupid to help you guys find mates right? A good hibernation is going to help so chop chop!"

The animals agreed and slowly returned to their dens and nests one by one. The girl helped the slower animals to their homes. This girl's duty in Mother Nature's sanctuary was to care for the fauna living there and she didn't mind that. After all, the girl was Mother Nature's apprentice; it was all part of the job.

If something were to happen to her superior, the girl, Natalie or Natty for short, would take over as the new Mother Nature. She still had a lot of training to go through though. While she could control flora and help the fauna, her power over the weather was miniscule.

As soon as the last animal was asleep, thunder roared. Natty's eyes grew large as the sound reached her ears. Climbing up into the trees she reached the top and looked in the direction that she heard the noise. There she saw leaves, clouds, water, and what caught her eye, black sand coming from the location Mother Nature usually resides.

Natty gritted her teeth as she saw the battle ensue from the distance. She realized that the Boogeyman had trespassed into the Sanctuary and was now with Mother Nature.

"What is that jerk doing here? I've got to help her."

Natty hopped to the branches below her as she ran above the forest ground and hopped across the foliage and, and swung from branch to branch. When she finally reached the clearing Mother Nature always was in, Natty saw the outcome of the battle. She stayed quiet behind a tree as she watched the scene occur.

Pitch was down on the ground, held back by much more vines than before. Mother Nature stood in front of him with a spear of water in her hand. Pitch seemed to have no place to go, no shadows within reach, and no means of escape in time. Mother Nature froze the water spear and brought the weapon down. The tip of the weapon was aimed at Pitch's throat possibly meaning the end of the Boogeyman.

But as the spear was centimeters away from his throat, it stopped. Pitch saw the ice shake and looked at Mother Nature's frustrated face.

"I-I can't do it…"

With this opportunity, Pitch smirked. He managed to loosen one of his arms and brought to Nature's face.

"Bad mistake to make, you could've ended me on the spot."

A blast of black sand went straight for Mother Nature, causing her to scream in pain. Unable to see, she caused the spear to cut the vines that bound Pitch, setting him free once again. When Mother Nature fell down, it was possible to see what Pitch had done to her. Black sand was spreading throughout her body draining her body of her powers. The Boogeyman stood in front of her damaged body and laughed.

"Well looks like the Boogeyman has struck again. Soon the world will be in calamity, and fear will be on this world once more. Farwell, Mother Nature."

Pitch then stepped into the shadows and disappeared, leaving no traces that he was once there. In a panic, Natty came out of her hiding spot and came to Nature's side.

"Are you alright? Please, answer me Mother Nature!"

Mother Nature turned her face towards Natty to reveal her tired face.

"Pitch's sand is making me fall into a coma. I won't be able to stay awake much longer."

"Why would Pitch do this? He has never done anything like this before?"

"MiM and the Guardians can explain it to you bu-"

"Manny… Manny can heal you can't he?"

Natty looked up to the opening where she could see the moon but saw the beam he produced did nothing, making her see it as a no.

"Natty, only Pitch has the power to extract the sand. You need to get him and if you can… save him."

Mother Nature slowly removed the locket from around her neck and placed it in Natty's hand. Mother Nature dragged herself to the pond where the water seemed to become attracted to her.

"That locket will explain everything to you Natty. The pond will help to preserve my body while I'm in this deep sleep."

Mother Nature looked at a shocked Natty with tired eyes.

"While I'm asleep, you will have to take my place, the Guardians will help you."

Nature looked up into the sky as the water seemed to be dragging her into the pond.

"You know what to do MiM."

Mother Nature closed her eyes as the water took her in. Natty stood up and ran towards the body of water. She looked down to see Mother Nature on the verge of being comatose. With the last of her strength, Mother Nature froze the pond.

A flash of light came from the magic and blinded Natty for a second. When the light went away she saw Mother Nature's body in stasis.

Looking at the locket Nature had given her, Natty gave a questionable face.

"What did she mean save him?"

The Man in the Moon guided the moonlight to the locket where a little button was to open the cover. When Natty opened the locket what she saw made her see everything. She knew what to do, but she would not be able to do it alone.

"Looks I'll be seeing the Guardians very soon. Don't worry Manny; Mother Nature will be back before we know it."

With that Natty ran into the forest, preparing for the upcoming events about to transpire.

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**Well that's the end of the first chapter. BTW if anyone who's reading this is a follower to two of my stories, Lupus Cupiditas and Angelic Siren, I'd like to say that I may just leave it on hiatus. School has been stressing me out and I've lost inspiration for the two. Sorry about that. Anyway I hope you like this ROTG story I'm doing and be prepared for the next few chapters.**


	2. Chapter 2: Meeting the Wild

**Haha surprised that I updated so fast aren't you! I actually typed this up before hand as well as chapter three. What I'm gonna do is write up the next chapter before posting a new one if anyone gets what I'm saying. Anyway hope you like this chapter. R&R!**

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It's been almost a year since Pitch was defeated by the Guardians. It took bit of time but things were back to the things they used to be. There was a new change though; a new Guardian had joined Santa (also known as North), the Tooth Fairy, Sandman, and the Easter Bunny. This new Guardian was Jack Frost. He had found his center, his purpose in protecting children: fun.

Jack Frost right now was in his hometown of Burgess bringing the kids a snow day. As Jack was watching the kids have their fun by the town statue, something hit the back of his head. He heard laughing from behind and realized that a certain someone had thrown a snowball at him. With a grin on his face, Jack turned to see a young boy with short brunette hair wearing warm winter apparel.

"Good to see you back Jack!"

"Hey Jamie. Enjoying the snow day?"

The kid Jack was talking to was Jamie Bennett. Jamie was the first child to truly believe in Jack and see him. With Jamie's help last year, he helped his friends believe in the Guardians once again and defeat Pitch.

"Wanna join my friends in a snowball fight, Jack?"

Before Jack could say yes, he looked at the sky to see the Northern Light glowing. This only meant one thing, North was signaling the Guardians to come.

"Sorry Jamie, I'm going to need a snow check on that, Santa's calling."

Jack climbed to the highest point of a nearby tree and called for the wind.

"Hey wind! Take me to the North Pole!"

The wind responded but not how Jack wanted it to. Instead it the wind blew Jack into random twists and spirals. Jack had no idea why the wind was acting so erratically. This was something new to him.

Suddenly the wind died down and Jack was heading straight for the roof of Jamie's house. With quick reflexes, Jack conjured a large pile of snow to use as padding. Jack safely landed in the snow pile which slid off the roof into the backyard. Jamie and a few of his friends reached Jamie's backyard just to see Jack pop his head out of the snow.

"Whoa, are you ok?"

"Yeah, but that was crazy."

Jamie's little sister, Sophie, then came out of the house and ran over to the snow pile. Her blonde hair was spread out in the snow as she made snow angels.

"Hehehe, pretty snow angels."

"Ok Sophie, Jack needs to get out of the snow."

Before Jamie could pull his baby sister off the snow pile she gasped and ran towards the side of the house. Sophie was then pulling someone to the backyard.

"Bunny! Hop, hop!"

"Alright lil' one I'm hoppin'"

Sophie was apparently pulling E. Aster Bunnymund, the Easter Bunny. When Bunnymund was fully in the backyard Jamie and his friend greeted him. As Bunny was responding back, Jack stood up and cleaned the snow off of him

"Hey Bunny, I thought you'd be at North's by now."

"I was, until North sent me here to grab you. Said something was wrong with the weather."

"Pretty much, when I wanted it to send me to his workshop, I ended up landing on Jamie's roof."

Sophie pulled on Bunny's fur causing the rabbit to look down. He knelt down to get closer to the toddler's height

"Going already?"

"Yeah but don't worry ya little-ankle biter, Easter Sunday is just around the corner. I'll be back before ya know it."

Sophie, Jamie, and their friend said goodbye as Bunnymund walk towards Jack.

"Alright mate, here we go."

The Easter Bunny tapped the ground with his foot twice and then a tunnel appeared under them. From there they followed the path of the tunnel until they would reach North's Workshop in the North Pole.

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North, Tooth, and Sandman were all waiting for Jack and Bunnymund in front of the large globe inside the workshop. Yetis were making toys, elves were doing crazy antics, and the Guardians were getting anxious. The hummingbird fairy was flying around the workshop, nervous.

"What's taking them so long?"

"Do not worry Tooth. They should be here any minute now."

Just then a hole appeared between them and Jack and Bunny came out. While North and Tooth greeted the two verbally, Sandman used his sand to greet them. Jack then walked up to North with a curious face.

"So North, what's big thing did you want to bring us here for?"

"It was not what I wanted to tell you all, but what Manny wanted to tell us."

North pointed to the open part of the workshop's roof where the full moon could be fully seen. As the moonlight moved, everyone stepped away from the symbol on the center of the floor. As the light positioned itself on the emblem of the Guardians, the Man in the Moon used shadows to relay his message.

First, there is a silhouette of a woman with flowers surrounding her. Jack looked at the others in confusion.

"Guys, who is this?"

"Jack, this is Mother Nature. She controls the seasons, the weather, and she cares for the flora and fauna."

Then the silhouette of the woman is shown to be confronted by a figure too familiar to the Guardians.

"Why 'n the world is Pitch fighting her?"

Sandy just created a question mark as he watched the shadow show continue.

Mother Nature then became overtaken by Pitch's sand and fell down as the Boogeyman's silhouette disappeared.

"That would explain the wind…"

"This must be it. Manny, Mother Nature is in trouble and you want us to help her don't you?"

MiM just created an arrow that pointed to a forest. Tooth and Bunny moved closer to the image to see it.

"He wants us to go to the Sanctuary, doesn't he?"

"Well what are we waiting for? To the sleigh!"

Everyone cheered, with the exception of the hesitant Easter Bunny, as they headed towards North's automated sleigh. What they had missed though was that by the forest there was an image of a figure waving at them, as if they were waiting. MiM didn't try to get their attention they'd just have to find out on their own.

Just the same as before, it was pulled by North's reindeer. North, dressed in his red coat, was at the front holding the reins. Bunny and Tooth by the walls of the sleigh while Jack and Sandy sat in the middle.

"Alright everyone! Buckle up!"

"Oh no mate, I'm not falling for that one again."

Bunny made sure to grip onto a secure part of the sleigh just before the sleigh took off. After the series of turns, swerves, and loop-di-loops they reached the outside. When the reindeer were flying steadily, North took out his snow globes and made the destination the Sanctuary, Mother Nature's home. He threw the orb into the distance where a large portal appeared and the sleigh passed through.

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The portal opened up into a large clearing beside a forest. The sleigh made a smooth landing by the edge of the forest as the reindeer made a full stop. The Guardians got off the ride as they looked at the vegetation in front of them.

"It's been so long since I've been here. I remember when these trees were just tiny saplings."

"Mother Nature wants to keep the insides of her world protected, so it remains a sanctuary."

"So guys, what is Mother Nature like?"

Sandy created a sand image of a woman being kind to others but then made her seem extremely aggressive the next second.

"You said it Sandy. Nature may be seen as benevolent by everyone but trust me Frost, she is unpredictable too. Honestly though, it's been a long time since I've stepped foot in this place."

"Guessing you had a bad run-in with her rabbit?"

"Well not exactly, I did meet her but-"

North quieted the two as he looked towards the inside of the forest. When the silence was reached, the leaves began to rustle.

"Something is here in the forest."

As the rustling continued, the Guardians prepared for any threat. North took out his swords, Jack had his cane in hand, Bunnymund took out his enchanted boomerangs, Tooth flew into the air, and Sandman had his dream sand in hand. They waited for any sudden movements.

When they saw a shadow passing from one tree, everyone charged into the forest with a battle cry. When they got into a small clearing, they saw the shadow circle around them, giggling. Whenever they heard a bit of laughter, Jack, Bunny, and Sandy would fire projectiles at them but they would always miss.

This continued for a while until the giggling just stopped. The Guardians stood in the center of the clearing as they looked at their surroundings.

"Who was that?"

"I don't know but that laughter, it sounds so familiar."

Just then five projectiles were fired at where the Guardians stood. They all stood back as the things hit the ground to realize that they were seeds. Each of the seed sprouted into different flowers: snowdrops, white lilacs, poinsettias, mauve carnations, and light pink roses.

"What in the world is going on here?"

That's when Sandman noticed that in the trees behind the Easter Bunny, the figure reappeared with a Cheshire-Cat smile. Sandy quickly signaled Bunny to look out behind out him.

"Huh, Sandy what is it? Look behi- CRICKEY!"

The figure had tackled the Easter Bunny with enough force to make him fall face first into the ground.

"Pooka! I haven't seen you in so long."

The Guardians dropped their weapons when they saw who the mysterious figure was. It was Natty who was at the moment giving Bunnymund a hug.

"Gah! Natty?! Not again, would you get off?!"

"No way, Bun-bun! It's been centuries since I last saw you!"

While Bunnymund tried to unhinge the girl from him, the other Guardians didn't even bother to help.

"That's Natalie for you. I don't think she can resist animals that much. Especially the mythical ones like Bunny. "

"Ah it has been long time since we last saw her. That was when she was just tiny girl was it not?"

Sandy nodded his head as he showed his memories of a little girl.

Jack, on the other hand, was laughing his butt off on the sight of Bunny being defeated by a hyperactive girl.

"Hahaha! Oh man, my insides are hurting right now. This is hilarious!"

"Oi Frost! Stop with the laughing an' help me get her off!"

As Jack stopped laughing the other Guardians came by and attempted to pull the immortal girl off the rabbit. While they tried to pull Natty off of Bunny, Jack asked the others who she was.

"Natalie was mortal like you before, but then Man in Moon and Mother Nature gave her power some centuries ago. Now she works as Mother Nature's assistant."

Finally the girl let go to further explain her duty to Jack.

"Not only that, but Mother has been training me, so that if anything happens I can take her place. Oh by the way, I'm hope you guys like the gifts I got you guys."

Natty pointed to the patch of flower that had come from the seed she threw. Tooth flew over and picked up the flowers.

"That's right… don't these flowers has special meaning to them."

Puffing out her chest with a grin on her face the girl responded.

"Yep I thought it'd be a nice welcome gift for all of you to get something. Snowdrops represent hope, lilacs are memories and youth, poinsettias are good cheer, mauve carnations are dreams, and light pink roses are joy!"

"Welcome gift? You were expecting us?"

"Of course I was! Manny did tell you guys that I'd meet you right? Wait…. Oh, So that's why you guys had your weapons at me!"

The Guardians started to feel a little bad for mistaking the girl as an enemy but Jack broke the awkward tension.

"So Natty was it? Where's Mother Nature? We heard she was in trouble."

The girl's cheerful face then became serious as she started to walk away from the clearing.

"You guys are going to have to see that for yourself. Follow me, if no one guides you around the forest then everyone is just going to end up outside again."

Natty hopped up to branches once again as the Guardians followed close behind.


	3. Chapter 3: A Cry For Help

**Welp another chapter posted. I'm going to try and work on as much of this story that I can before school starts again so I'll be quick with updating possibly. Anyway hope you guys like this chapter. R&R!**

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After what felt like minutes, Natty set herself onto the ground to reveal the clearing she found Mother Nature in. Everyone looked at the open space to see how serene and quiet it was. While everyone was looking at their surroundings Natty walked over to the frozen pond.

"Well, here she is…, Mother Nature."

The Guardians walked over to see the comatose woman, frozen in the water. When Jack touched the layer of ice on the pond and could tell that it was solid. Mother Nature's apprentice placed her hand across the ice as she told the Guardians of the events that had occurred nights ago.

"She was fighting Pitch and almost had him. But he blasted his sand at her and she's been asleep since. For now I've been trying to fill up her job for her."

"Trying?"

Natty's somewhat depressed demeanor quickly changed to a somewhat embarrassed one as she looked at Jack.

"Hehehe, remember when you tried to get the wind to send you to North's place?"

"Yeah, I sure loved how I almost crashed into the roof of a house."

"Hey don't get mad at me! Nature didn't teach me how to control the weather yet and I've only had couple days to try it out. The most I can do is making clouds!"

"Wait is that why the weather has been so crazy lately?"

Tooth interrupting the two prevented an upcoming argument as Natty responded.

"Yeah, before she froze herself into the pond, Mother Nature told me that you guys could help me with the weather. If the season isn't kept in check it's going to be-"

"A nightmare… that is why Pitch attacked Mother Nature!"

"There is one more thing that we have to do too. We need to bring Pitch here too. He is the only one who can remove the dark sand from her body and Mother Nature gave me one last request before falling asleep: to save him."

Bunny stomped forward, baffled by the needed request.

"Why in blazes do we need to save him?! All he's done has brought fear to children. And did you not hear about last Easter."

"I know, I know. He's the Boogeyman and he's a huge jerk but, there is something you all need to see."

From one of the pouches on her waist, Natty took out an object and tossed it in the general direction of the Guardians. Sandman floated up and caught it in his hands. Sandy opened his hands to reveal the locket while the other Guardians gathered around.

"The design on this is not from any era I know of."

"Yes it is very unique locket."

"What's a piece of jewelry going to show us?"

The girl walked over to Sandy and pressed the button that would open the cover.

"Why not find out yourself?"

The locket automatically opened up to reveal the inside. On one side there was an aged, monochrome picture of a young girl. On the other side a crystal was imbedded in the concave cover. The crystal lit up and shot out a small beam of light. Everyone closed their eyes so they could get adjusted to the light.

When they looked again, the beam had widened and was revealed to have a projection in it. In the hologram a middle-aged man was wearing a dark tailcoat worn by people in the military. His dark brown hair was not as contrasting as his golden eyes.

All the Guardians had the same thoughts running through their minds. That man looked like Pitch, was this him? Before any of them could say anything aloud, the man in the projection spoke.

* * *

"Hello, my name is Kozmotis Pitchiner. I am recording this message so people will know of what has happened to me.

I was once the General of the Golden Age Armies during that era. It was a time when the Constellations ruled the universe, a time of prosperity and joy. But everything changed when the worlds were plagued by these creatures."

The projection moved away from the Pitchiner being to a view of the cages the Guardian once saw in Pitch's underground lair. But rather than being empty, the little prisons were holding in creatures that looked demonic and dark. Their golden eyes looked like they were piercing into the Guardians' souls.

Kozmotis Pitchiner walked in front of view as the camera followed him.

"Since capturing these Fearlings and Dream Pirates I kept them locked in this prison. This forced me to be away from my young daughter, Seraphina, and so I always wear a locket with her image inside and as the years passed, I yearned to see her."

The general lifted up the locket that was around his neck and it was clear to see that the accessory around his neck was the same as locket the Sandman was holding.

"And that's when they did it. The Fearlings, they mimicked my daughter, tricked me to opening their cell until I realized that it was fake, it was their illusion! I quickly sealed their prison, and realized the shadows had entered me, consuming my body with their darkness. What have I done? Why did I listen when I knew she wasn't there? All I know is that I can never see her again."

The projection had a bit of static before showing Pitchiner again. This time he was sitting in a bed but something had changed about him. Part of his hair was starting to turn black and his hands were starting to turn a pale grey color.

"Since then, the shadows have entered my body whether or not their cages are locked. They whisper to me the power of this darkness, that it will lead me to hunger for dreams and fears of the innocent! I don't understand what they say. From you can probably see my skin is turning grey and the magic I once possessed has been turning into black sand and has taken the forms of frightful things. This doesn't seem be stopping. I fear the worst."

Once more there was static and the general reappeared with the parts of his outfit turning black and blending together. His face seemed to get long and his nose was flatter. He was standing right by a cage where small Fearlings were slipping through the cracks and entered his body. His golden irises were growing duller as looked forward.

"I'm aware that I'm losing this battle. That my reason is withering away. If anyone sees me, I want them to know that if I do things… If I do things that cause harm to anyone. Just… please forgive me."

The projection had static one more time before it showed Pitchiner looking straight at the camera. His hair was completely black, the grey skin around his face was slowly spreading, and tears were in his eyes.

"Someone be my conscious until I can overcome this fear that overshadows me! And then, Seraphina, my dream! Maybe you can see daddy again! Please wait for daddy!"

Static came one last time as the beam of light that provided the projection died out and returned to the crystal.

* * *

All the Guardians were speechless as they could not believe what they just saw. Deep inside the spirit of nightmares, there was an innocent father trapped. Before any of them could make a sound, Natty spoke while still looking down at the frozen pond.

"Look at the picture inside and tell who that reminds you guys of."

They took a closer look at the picture of the young girl. That's when it hit them; they looked at the pond when Tooth made the realization loud and clear.

"Mother Nature is Pitch's daughter…"

Natty nodded her head as she looked at her the woman under. Few times, Natty had seen her with a lost expression on Mother Nature's face and now she saw why. Mother Nature has cared for her since the start of her immortal life. Natty saw Mother Nature as a mother and if Nature, no. If Seraphina couldn't truly see her father, then that wouldn't be right.

Natty walked over to Sandman and took back the locket.

"Not only do we have to save Seraphina but, maybe we can bring back Kozmotis too."

Jack sprung forward with his staff at hand and a determined face.

"Well what are we waiting for? Let's go to Pitch's Lair and beat those Fearlings out of him!"

The other Guardians agreed with a cheer, but the Natty told them to stop.

"Hold up people we can't go to Pitch's yet."

"An' why not?!"

Just then thunder roared and rain came pouring down on the clearing. In a matter of second everyone was soaked. Sandy used his sand to make an umbrella for himself while Natty threw a seed at the ground to get a giant flower to act as a canopy.

"Well that was anti-climatic."

"The weather for the next few days has to be dealt with before we can go. That's where I need your help guys."

"Right, Mother Nature's duty comes first, we cannot let Pitch grow any stronger with fear."

Soon the Guardians were back to their normal attitudes and were prepared to help in any way they can. Natty became cheerful once again with the knowledge that she could rely on the Guardians.

She looked up into the sky, with hope of bringing back a trapped soul as well as a lost father.

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**Well there's the newest chapter! I got the name Seraphina for Mother Nature since on the Wiki page for ROTG the author said that was her real name. Pitchiner's message was heavily inspired by Simon Petrikov's video in Adventure Time. I used it as a basis so that's why it seems so close to it. Hope you like the story so far. Another chapter is coming up soon.**


	4. Chapter 4: Calm Before the Storm

**Here's the newest chapter, something to lighten up the spirits. Hope you like it. Review if you'd like!**

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Up in the skies where the clouds resided, North's sleigh was flying across. North was at the reins circling around a large patch of clouds. In the backseat of the vehicle, Bunny and Natty were looking straight towards the clouds as they were preparing to turn it into a thunderstorm.

"Alright were going these clouds are going to need a lot of water for this job. North, can you use your snow globe to get a lot of water from the ocean?"

"Ha! That is child's play."

North brought out the magic orb and threw it above the cluster of clouds. The portal was aimed vertically as a torrent of seawater came gushing into the clouds building up the water content inside them.

Natty looked at Bunny and gave him a signal. The Easter Bunny threw a multitude of his egg bombs into the clouds. The oval explosives set off simultaneously and soon, the booming continued without the need for the eggs. Lightning came out and almost hit the sleigh if it weren't for Santa's quick thinking.

"Brilliant idea of making artificial thunder mate."

"Hey inside this cheerful, wild girl, there is a brain Bunny. Now to get this to Europe."

Natty hopped out of the sleigh and as she began to free-fall, a cloud appeared that was dense enough for her to stand on. The girl used her powers to slowly push the clouds west, where the storm would rain on the coasts of the continent.

Once the storm cloud was on its way for landmass, Natalie floated back up to the sleigh before hopping off the cloud and into the red ride. She dusted off the leftover cloud on her feet as she asked the two Guardians how the others were doing on their end.

"Frost seems to be going fast with the snow days, but that's natural for him."

"Yes and Tooth's fairies are being outstandingly fast at creating wind currents. Seems they want to help Jack move around."

Before she could ask about Sandy, some of his dream sand came from out of nowhere created a little show. It appeared that the Sandman's dream sand acted well as a way to heat up the countries experiencing summer. Natty was mentally checking of the to-do-list in her head when she realized it was complete.

"Perfect! This weather should last for the next few days. Now we can prepare."

"Alright, let's go meet the others back in Burgess."

North got out another snow globe and set the destination for Jack's hometown. The glowing wormhole opened up again as everyone rode into it.

* * *

The sleigh arrived in the lush evergreen forest near the town and landed on the surface of the frozen lake. When Natty first set her bare feet into the snow, a cold tingle went through her body.

"Oh my god! How the heck does Jack not get frostbite while doing his job?! I can feel the vines on my feet getting frozen!"

"That is what you get for not dressing for the occasion, Natalie."

"You two have excuses North! You are wearing that coat and Bun-bun has fur!"

The girl wrapped her flower poncho around her in an attempt to warm up her body as she looked around. Natty shivered as she looked around until she saw the path to town. From there she hopped out of the snow and climbed into the nearest tree and bound for the source of heat.

She arrived at the nearest house and slipped into the backyard of it through a loose part of the fence. She dived for the house's heater and sat by it, absorbing the heat.

"As much as I like the flora that comes out of this season, I don't like winter.

"Aw that's a shame. I thought you would be having fun with all this snow."

Natty heard Jack's voice from behind but when she turned her head she just got a ball of snow in the face. Before she could even give a scowl to the winter spirit, his magic had its effect on her and she had a mischievous grin on her face.

"You're gonna get it now Frost."

Her power over weather had gotten better so creating a snowball the size of her head was not a problem. Before he could even dodge, Jack was pummeled by the ball of ice. As she looked at the result of her work, the young apprentice heard a voice coming closer.

Natty saw that Jamie had seen Jack fall and went to check up on him. The brunette didn't notice the girl standing on the by him and Jack. It really wasn't that much of a surprise though. Mother Nature was seen as a mere expression. But Jack used to be seen that way so there was always the possibility.

"Whoa, Jack, are you ok?"

"Yeah, just challenging Mother Nature to a snowball fight."

"Wait, Mother Nature is real? Is she a Guardian too?"

"Of course she's real, but she's not a Guardian. I'm just helping her out with the weather. Hey want to meet her?"

"Sure!"

"Hey Natty get over here!"

Said girl walked over to the two boys. Jack asked for one of the seeds in her pouches which she gave to him. Jack opened his hand in front of Jamie to show him the simple seed.

"Now watch this."

Jack dropped the seed into the snow and in a few seconds a tulip popped out of the ground in full bloom. Though he believed what he saw before them, he was still a bit skeptical.

"I'm still not sure. Tha-"

"CRICKEY! A little help here!"

Everyone looked up to see Bunnymund hopping off the roof. On the other side of the house, Jamie's greyhound, Abbey, went after mammal with little Sophie following behind.

"Bad doggy! Don't hurt Bunny."

While watching the Pooka being chased was hilarious, the immortal girl knew she had to do something. As the dog neared, Natty brought her fingers to her mouth and whistled. Abbey stopped in her tracks as the high-pitch sound rang in its sensitive ears. Sophie had bumped into the stopped Abbey as she looked towards the general direction that Natty stood. The older girl knelt down so she was eye-level to the canine.

"Stop chasing the Easter Bunny. He means no harm to the kids okay? Now why don't you go back inside where it's nice and warm?"

Jack and Bunny were amazed at how attentively the dog listened to the girl. Abbey nodded her head as she headed back to the backyard to get back inside the house. The greyhound passed by North who saw the whole scene.

"Wonderful work Natalie! Your ability to communicate with the animals is amazing."

Natty stood up and turned to North while rubbing her head.

"Well, after caring for all the animals in the Sanctuary, you learn a thing or two."

Just then the immortal girl felt tugging on her skirt and looked down to see Sophie grinning at her.

"Pretty lady saved bunny!"

Natty's eyes widen as Sophie went for a hug. Before she could see anything, she heard another voice.

"It really is Mother Nature."

Natty's eyes were almost the size of saucers now as she took in what was happening. These children were starting to believe in her, not as some term but the manifestation of Nature itself.

Natty picked up the giggling Sophie as she looked at Jamie.

"To tell you the truth, I'm more of her apprentice, like Vice-Mother Nature. I still have a long way to go before I could reach her level."

Just then, Natty felt another snowball into the side of her head. She turned and glared at Jack and Bunny. After placing the toddler down, the girl packed another snowball and threw it at the two.

"Told you that you going to get it Frost!"

Jack ducked this time and the projectile hit Bunnymund instead. The rabbit retaliated but his aim was off and hit North. A snowball fight ensued in the Jamie and Sophie's yard.

Soon, Sophie was getting sleepy so Jamie decided to bring her back inside for her naptime while the Guardians did their business. After saying goodbye they headed back to the lake. That's when Bunnymund noticed two missing factors.

"Hey, where are Tooth and Sandy?"

Just then the two mentioned Guardians came swooping down.

"Sorry we're late; I got a bit distracted by a few molars and incisors under some pillows."

Sandy gestured a clock, translating that it took a while to get there.

"So it looks like everything is set. Now we can get to the real problem."

The Guardians and Natty walked into the forest surrounding the lake until they came across their destination. An old rickety bed was sitting in a clearing void of snow and grass. Underneath the structure a large hole, the entrance to Pitch's lair. As they got closer they felt a surge of power coming from the bed but they ignored it

As North, Jack, and Bunny moved the bed out of the way, Natty took out the locket once more to remind herself of the goal.

"Don't worry Mother Nature, we'll bring back the general."

"Natty what are you waiting for? Let's go!"

The girl looked up to just see North, Bunnymund, and Sandy jump into the hole while Tooth and Jack waited for her. Natalie placed the locket back into a pouch as she hopped into the pit that would lead into the Boogeyman's domain.

* * *

**Well up next if the big moment. Will Pitch go willingly or will the Guardians find a way to bring back Kozmotis Pitchiner. Find out in the next chapter.**


	5. Chapter 5: Deep In Thought

**Here is a new chapter! School is starting soon and there may be a chance I complete the story though that is pushing myself. Anyway, I hope you like this chapter and review if you would like to.**

* * *

After going through tunnels and stairs, Natty and the Guardians entered Pitch's lair. Black, gothic jail cells hung from the ceiling. Bridges and stairs were scattered about and only a few beams of sunlight provided the light source in the underground base.

"This place gives me the creeps whenever I hop here."

"Well, I'm glad that my domain made you feel that way Bunnymund."

Everyone turned around as Pitch appeared in the shadows. The grey-skinned man gave the six a menacing smirk but they did not falter. Natty walked in front of the Guardians and faced Pitch.

"We didn't come here to fight Pitch. We want you to undo what you did to Mother Nature."

"How forgetful of me to overlook her little apprentice but, why would I do that? The idea that the seasons will be out of balance and cause hysteria is enticing to me. All the fear that comes from that is amazing."

Pitch Black summoned a couple of his Nightmare horses to charge at the girl. Natty used some of her seeds to produce long vines and used them like whips to take out the dark horses. The Guardians came forward and tried to talk some sense into the Boogeyman but he ignored the pleas. They decided that if he could listen to reason then they would result to _it._

Jack asked for the locket, which Natty gave to him. The snow spirit lifted the piece of jewelry as he spoke to Pitch.

"Pitch inside this thing shows why you aren't believed in. Why you don't scare children. Deep inside, you're just a scared man who doesn't want to be lost in the darkness."

"Scared?! That may have been last year but not anymore. So what if don't scare children with my nightmares? I'll find other ways to scare them, other ways to instill fear. I am the Nightmare King and the world will fear me and so will you!"

Pitch summoned a burst of black sand that hit Jack right in the gut. As the Guardians rushed to Jack to make sure he was ok, the necklace fell on the ground. The locket dropped on the opening mechanism causing it to open. As Pitch looked inside, the crystal inside the cover did something.

Rather than show the projection from before, a blinding light appeared from it.

The light continued to intensify until everything went white. The light died down and it seemed that everyone was gone. Only the locket was there on the ground, wide open.

* * *

Natty opened her eyes to see herself on a grassy field. She sat up with a massive headache and saw the Guardians in the same situation as her.

"Oi my head. Where are we?"

"It must've been a locket. I think it reacted when it was near him."

Natty came over and helped the others off as she looked at the field around her. It was so peaceful and calm, nothing like Pitch's underground lair.

They saw a few children playing in the distance, one looking familiar. None of them could place their finger on who it was though.

"Guys check this out!"

Everyone saw Jack walking away and soon followed. As they followed they noticed how the field was slowly changing into a grand ballroom. Suddenly, out of thin air, people were dancing in the large room. The Guardians seemed to phase through them no one paid mind to them. That's when they saw him, Kozmotis Pitchiner.

He was younger than appeared in the projection and had a content smile on his face as he danced with a young woman. For a second, Natty thought she saw Mother Nature in the woman. That's when it hit them.

"Guys, I think we're in his memories."

"That is correct stranger."

Everyone turned to see another Kozmotis standing behind them. This one looked more like the man everyone saw in the locket's message.

"Greetings, I am General Kozmotis Pitchiner. I must say it is surprising to see visitors since I have never had any."

"Haha, greetings to you as well. I am known as Nicholas St. North, but you can North."

"Hey there, mate. Name's Bunnymund."

"Hi there I'm known as Tooth."

The Sandman wrote out his name using his dream sand.

"Jack Frost is my name."

"I'm Natalie but everyone just calls me Natty."

Pitchiner smiled at their positive responses as he continued to speak with them.

"It is a pleasure to meet all of you. What brings all of you here?"

"Actually buddy, we came here for you."

Bunny explained how they discovered his locket as well as the situation with Mother Nature to Pitchiner, without mentioning the fact that the woman was his daughter. They thought it would overwhelm him and send him into shock. The general had listened to the whole story but had guilt on his face.

"We need to find a way to get out of here too. Children of Earth will need us looking out for them.

"I'm sorry but I will not be able to help you. The Fearlings, they hunt for me still, wanting to consume what is left of me."

"Please, General, an entire world is at stake!"

Kozmotis was soon on his knees grabbing his head as the memories of Fearlings that slowly consumed his soul.

"N-no I can't face those things again. I can't!"

"Your daughter wouldn't want you to give up like this. Would she?"

"Seraphina…?"

Kozmotis was silent for a bit until he stood up but remained looking at the floor.

"Alright, I'll guide you to as close to the exit as I can get. I'll try… for her sake.

North laughed as he went for a big bear hug with everyone. After thanking the general for his assistance, North placed everyone down. Pitchiner dusted himself off as he turned his back to the others.

"I believe the way out will be the closest to the most recent memories. Shall we march on?"

Everyone nodded as they followed the middle-aged man further into his memories.

They walked through the ballroom as it slowly transformed into a room fit for a child. Natty looked at her surroundings when she noticed something.

"Hey it's that sheila you were dancing with before."

The Guardians and Pitchiner turned to see a younger Kozmotis with the same woman he was dancing with before. She was sitting on a rocking chair while the younger general was kneeling besides her, looking at her belly. The general smiled as he watched this memory play out in front of him.

"That is my wife; I met when I was just a party and instantly fell in love with her. She was compassionate, beautiful, and loving. When we discovered that she was pregnant with our daughter we were so ecstatic."

"She sounds like a wonderful woman, general."

"She was but…"

"Somethin' happened hadn' it?"

Kozmotis smile was slowly turning downward as he walked on.

"She was diagnosed with serious illness just days before Seraphina was born. I-It was too much for her…"

As Pitchiner opened a door a crying baby could be heard. The six of them were shocked at what they saw. There the woman from before was lying on a bed, lifeless but with a smile on her face. Midwifes were mourning as Kozmotis was holding the tiny baby in his hands. The six behind the general couldn't bear the sight as they looked away with tears in the corner of their eyes.

Kozmotis guided them away from the scene as his mind felt nostalgic.

"I swore that day that I would cherish my little girl and protect her from any dangers. It was a bit surprising that Sera would be mirror image of her mother but that didn't change anything. Even if I was away from home due to my duties as general, I would make sure to see whenever I could."

"Daddy!"

Everyone watched as a young girl came from a house and phased through them. They turned their heads to see another Kozmotis pick up the girl.

"Hello my little flower, I missed you."

"I missed you too papa! And you didn't miss my birthday either!"

"You mean the world to me Sera. Of course I wouldn't miss it."

"Ah Daddy watch this I've been working on my magic too."

Pitchiner set the girl down and she headed to a blooming tree. Seraphina placed her hands in front of her as she concentrated. Just then, butterflies came out of the tree and rested on the girls head as she turned to her dad.

"Did you see that? I did it!"

"Haha that you did sweetie. You always seem to surprise me every time I come back."

While the general was distracted with the sight of his daughter, the Guardians were having their own conversation.

"There is no doubt about it. That is definitely Mother Nature."

"And to think, Pitch used to be… happy."

"This settles it. We have to get the general out of here."

Sandy used his sand make a key unlocking a cell.

"But those Fearlings really seem to get him. I don't think we should push him too much."

Natty, on the other hand, was watching the memory of Kozmotis and the young Mother Nature. Something about their bond had seemed to intrigue her, like something deep inside her was calling her out. The girl's thoughts were interrupted when she heard a voice beside her.

"Sorry if I'm interrupting anything but would you all like to continue on now?"

Everyone looked to see Pitch, who was curious on what they were talking about. Tooth came forward and tried to explain the reason behind their conversation while the others nodded in agreement.

"Oh sorry about that it was just that you were so captivated by your memories that we didn't want to disturb you."

Pitchiner smiled at their consideration. They continued on further into their memories as they searched for a way to get out. Unaware to them, a figure was watching from the shadows in the memories up ahead.

* * *

**Gah I don't like how I ended this chapter but it's decent enough. I wasn't sure what the general's personality is like so I'm just winging it based off of my headcanon. Hope you liked anyway. Be prepared for the next chapter because feels will probably be overflowing.**


	6. Chapter 6: One Last Time

**Prepare for the feels! Anyway, for the most part, the Guardians and Natty will not say much in the first half. So no commentary they're just watching the memories flow. Anyway here is the newest chapter. Review if you'd like.**

* * *

Rather than walking from place to place, Kozmotis figured that it would be easier if the general himself remembered the memories. It had worked as everyone stood there observing what the man had gone through in that era.

They viewed the beauty of the Golden Age, the fierce battles with Fearlings, and the capture of the Dream Pirates.

Now they were back in the Kozmotis's old home watching a significant scene occur. As they all watched, the general hold told them what was occurring.

"This was the last night I ever saw her, the night before I left."

Little Seraphina was preparing for bed, with Kozmotis by her bedside. She sat up as she looked up at her father with a pouty face.

"Papa, do you really have to go? The war is over, can't you stay home."

"I'm sorry Sera; someone needs to make sure the Fearlings stay imprisoned. It is my duty to protect the world and you from those monsters. I want you to promise me something though."

"What is it papa?"

"Even though I'm not here, I want you to always be happy. You are growing up to be a strong, beautiful girl like your mother. You mean the world to me, my little dream. Never forget that Daddy loves you."

Seraphina wrapped her arms around Kozmotis as she hugged him tightly.

"I love you too Papa and I promise… Oh! I wanted to give you this too!"

The child placed her hand under her pillow and when she removed it she took out a gift.

"So you can always remember. But don't open it yet okay?"

The general nodded his head as he placed the small present in his pocket.

"Can you sing me a lullaby before you go?"

"Heheh, Seraphina you're almost ten. Aren't you getting old fo-"

"Please daddy…"

He was silent for a second before he agreed. He lifted up the little girl and decided on a song that he once heard during his travel in an oriental land. As he began to hum the melody he once heard, Kozmotis put his heart into softly singing the lullaby to Seraphina.

"_Leaves from the vine,_

_Falling so slow_

_Like fragile tiny shells_

_Drifting in the foam_

_Little solider boy, come marching home._

_And brave solider boy, comes marching home."_

As memory of the father and his child continued, Kozmotis was on the verge of breaking down. He missed his little girl deeply, and without the knowledge that his child was alive, he questioned himself.

'Had she lived a good life? Did she ever know what happened to me? Does she still love me?'

As tears came from his eyes, Kozmotis heard the rest of the song and melody he sang to Seraphina that night.

"_Leaves from the vine,_

_Falling so slow_

_Like fragile tiny shells_

_Drifting in the foam_

_Little solider boy, come marching home._

_And brave solider boy, comes marching home."_

In his arms, the child's eyes were closing and her grip on her father loosened. The general placed the child into her bed and kissed her forehead.

"_Little solider boy, come marching home._

_And brave solider boy, comes marching home…"_

As he was about to close the door and let the girl sleep, he heard her murmur something.

"Mmm… I love you daddy."

"I love you too, my dream."

He closed the door before leaving the structure he called home. Standing outside, a short man with a small amount of white hair on the top of his head saluted towards him.

"General Pitchiner, are you ready to leave?"

The general looked at the window that led to his daughter's window one last time before looking at the man in front of him.

"Yes Colonel Lunar and thank you for waiting."

"It was no problem, anything for an old friend Kozmotis."

The two men walked toward an open carriage waiting for them. As they settled themselves in, the coachman of the ride gripped the reins as the pegasi that guided the carriage unfurled their wings and flew into the night sky.

Kozmotis looked down on his house with forlorn eyes until he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Kozmotis you don't have to worry. I'll make sure little Seraphina is safe."

The general sighed before smiling at the shorter man.

"Thank you Tsar, I know I can count on you to be her guardian while I am serving my duties. It just… bothers me that I won't see my little girl grow up before my eyes."

"I'll be sure to tell you how she has been when I visit you. By the way… what is that in your pocket?"

The man known as Colonel Tsar Lunar pointed to the present in the general's pocket. After explaining it as a gift from his daughter he decided to unwrap it. Inside was a locket, the same exact locket the Guardians had discovered Pitch's past with.

Pitchiner opened the locket to see a picture of his daughter smiling. He closed the locket and placed the jewelry on his neck. From then on he watched the night sky as the winged horses flew to his destination.

* * *

Everyone continued to watch as the memories soon transformed into a location familiar to them. Cages surrounded them; black wispy demons were trapped inside pleading for escape.

"Please let us out!"

"We will never do anything bad again. Just let us be free."

"Quiet all of you! None of you are going to be released as long as I'm here."

The memory of Kozmotis walked passed them, with a scowl on his face as he looked at his prisoners. The Kozmotis that was with the Guardians and Natty watched himself walk by.

"As you saw from my message, I tried my best not to falter when keeping these spirits in their prisons. But as the years went by, being unable to see my daughter grow up took its toll on me."

The memory Kozmotis appeared again but he looked older and more tired. He was staring at the locket around his neck when voice echoed out.

"Daddy where are you?!"

"Seraphina?"

The general's eyes widened when he heard the voice of his daughter coming from the cages. As the voiced continued to echo in his ears, his eyes dulled.

"Daddy please, I'm scared!"

Kozmotis ran toward one of the cages where he had heard the voice of his child. His movements were stiff as if he was being controlled.

"Open the door daddy it's scary in here!"

Slowly Pitchiner unlocked the cell that held the Fearlings captive. As soon as click of the lock was heard, the general was released from his trance, where he realized what he had done.

Soon Fearlings came out of the cage and attacked him. With all his might, he locked the cage once again. Kozmotis looked back to find the Fearlings had vanished until he felt something pulsing inside of him. The general looked at his shaking hands and saw his fingertips slowly turning grey.

"What have I done?"

The memory was suddenly stopped by the Pitchiner that came with the Guardians.

"I'm sorry. This is as far as I can take you, I can't bear to go through my past any longer."

"General… we know what you are going through, we've seen it. But you can't just give up now."

"We agreed that I would take you as far as I could, I've kept that promise."

"Come on mate, you've gotten this far, stop being so stubborn."

As the Guardians and Natty tried to convince the general to push on, they failed to detect something ominous behind them. It was too late as dark sand captured all of them in a sand cage.

"What in world?"

"Oh no… Pitch."

As soon as the Boogeyman's name was said, his nightmare horses appeared and seemed to pull the cage across the general's memories. They saw the general recording the message into the crystal, and imbedding it into his locket but after that, nothing.

Everyone's view of outside the cage was gone as more black sand obscured their vision. Everything became clear once again only when the horses stopped and the sand dispersed. Everyone landed on the ground as they looked at their surroundings.

"What are we doing back in Burgess?"

"I'm glad you asked that Frost."

Just then from the shadows Pitch came out with a grin on his face. Kozmotis stepped back as he looked at the being that had was supposed to have become.

"This is the place I remember where you all defeated me last Easter, now it will be where I remember destroying all of you!"

The Nightmare King summoned a large herd of his Nightmare horses which appeared by his side. Everyone prepared themselves for battle except the general.

He had faced Fearlings before but the amount overwhelmed him. Although he had the Guardians alongside him, he was scared. He didn't want to want to be consumed by these monsters once again. So he ran.

"Wait general! Where are you going?"

Natty tried to go after the general but Jack pulled her back with his staff.

"Calm down, we can go after him later. Right now we got to deal with Pitch."

The girl hesitantly looked back in the direction Kozmotis ran. She turned back to Jack and nodded her head as she readied herself for the battle about to begin.

The Boogeyman rode one of his horses with a black scythe in hand.

"… Boo!"

On cue, the Fearling stallions charged at the six while those heroes of good charged in for the attack that was literally a battle for the mind.

* * *

**Oh my god I loved how this turned out. If some people didn't figure out where the song came from, it was from Avatar: The Last Airbender. This song was in the Tales of Ba Sing Se episode. That's how I came up with the title of the story: because the story almost seems fitting for Kozmotis Pitchiner. I know the song only lasts one verse but this is because I was inspired by the cover of Leaves from the Vine by adrisaurus on Youtube. So anyway hope you like this chapter.**


	7. Chapter 7: Overcoming the Bad

**Oh man, school is going to start soon. I have the upcoming chapters in the works so it won't take me too long to update. Anyway hope you like this chapter. Read and review if you want!**

* * *

The general continued to run for quite an amount of time. He knew it was dishonorable of him to leave behind the Guardians and Natty, he felt that the brave soldier from the Golden Age was no more. And he thought what use was there for him to live anymore.

He never knew what happened to his daughter, the one who wanted to protect from danger. Would anyone else care for him? The Guardians and Natty would but it wouldn't be the same as the bond with his daughter.

Kozmotis stopped running as he entered a forest. He sat in the grass as he ran his hand through his slicked back hair. He turned his head and saw Pitch in the shadows, calming down once he realized that it was just a memory. Curious of where the memory Boogeyman was going, Pitchiner walked behind. As he followed Pitch, he could hear a voice in the distance.

"…will I ever see him again? Will I ever see papa?"

Pitchiner saw the Nightmare King do something up ahead so he ran forward. The general would watch what happen next that gave him and go through great realization.

* * *

The Guardians and Natty were doing their best to hold off the Fearling horses. As Santa sliced the nightmares with his swords, he was starting to grow weary.

"If only I can summon the yetis or elves even."

Bunnymund hopped by North while catching his boomerangs in mid-air.

"You're telling me, my egg statues would be great help right now."

The two failed to see a Fearling behind them as it got on its hind legs, ready to stomp them with its hooves. Luckily a few seeds hit the horse and vines wrapped around it until it exploded. Natty ran past the two Guardians as she was being chased by a few Fearlings.

"Less talking and more fighting you two."

The girl turned back and threw seeds at her chasers, which sprouted into large carnivorous plants that bit into the Fearlings, causing them to disperse. Jack came around with a path of ice and channeled his powers through his staff to freeze the horses that chased him. Tooth came in and with her speed and agility she broke the frozen stallions into bits and pieces.

"Wait, where's Sandy?"

Everyone looked up to see the Sandman fighting off black sand in the skies. Pitch continued to conjure up a steady amount of sand despite Sandy's attempts. North looked up with determination as memories of Sandy's fate last year replayed in his mind.

"Last year can't happen again!"

Before any of them could set off to help the Sandman, more Fearling horses appeared. Bunny used his boomerangs as he turned to Jack.

"Frost! You and Natty go help Sandy, we got this buggers."

Jack nodded his head as he let the wind currents of the memories let him fly. Natty used a tree to climb high before making a cloud to stand on.

Pitch was watching the Sandman fight of his nightmare sand, knowing that it would overpower the Guardian of Dreams. When the Nightmare King was about to send out one more burst of sand, vines wrapped around him and bound his hands.

Pitch watched as his sand began to freeze and dissipate when Frost began using the wind to circle around Sandy. Natty came up with her cloud and high-fived the snow spirit for his quick thinking while Sandy gave Jack and Natty thumbs up.

Agitated that he was being ignored once again, Pitch broke free of the vines through sheer force. The sound of the plants snapping caused the three of them to turn and get any sort of weapon out.

"It's over Pitch, you're outnumbered."

"I don't think so, ever since entering my memories, I've learned from my mistakes. I've also grown stronger and do you know why? Because that coward of a general is so afraid of me. His fear has kept me going all this time and I never knew."

"Well that ends NOW Pitch!"

Natty threw multiple seeds at Pitch but he deflected them with his sand. The small projectiles rebounded back to the Sandman, Jack Frost, and Natalie and ended up wrapping them in layers of vines. The younger spirits were squishing the Sandman leaving him immobile. Jack accidently dropped his staff which landed on the rooftops.

Jack and Natty lost control of their flight and were depending on Sandy's dream sand cloud for support. The three of them were distracted in freeing themselves that they didn't realize Pitch was drawing three arrows from a black bow. Each projectile was condensed with black sand. Anybody it hit would be suffering from its magic and end in the same situation as Mother Nature herself, or worse.

"Now this is what I call killing two birds with one stone, or should I say three."

North, Bunny, and Tooth saw this and tried their fastest to stop the Boogeyman. But the distance was too great, even for the Tooth Fairy. When the string of the bow was taut and his aim was at the three, he released the projectiles.

It felt like time was going slow for them. Jack, Sandy, and Natty watched as the arrows head straight toward them. Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, and the Tooth Fairy could only watch as their friends were about to be hit. Pitch placed down his bow as he waited for the three arrows to hit their intended targets.

But just then, something spinning appeared in the air and deflected the arrows from their path. One of the arrows managed to tear off some of the vines, loosening the grip. The vines finally broke and the three of them were free. Sandy and Natty were able to remain in the air but Jack was free falling without his staff. Tooth, luckily, caught him and handed him the large stick.

The young apprentice and the Sandman descended to the ground where they met with Jack and the other Guardians. Natty was on the ground out of breath with a panicked expression.

"Oh my GOD! I thought I was going to die!"

"Well you are all safe now. That is what matters."

"Phew, thanks for the save Rabbit."

Sandman replayed the scene when the spinning object, supposedly Bunny's boomerang, stopped the arrows from piercing them.

"Hold up mate, those weren't my boomerangs."

"Wait, then what was that thing that saved us?"

Just then a sound of something hitting the ground echoed behind them. The six of them turned to see a large metal scythe in the ground. Pitch landed on the rooftops and looked at the weapon that had stopped his attack.

"What is the meaning of this? Who dares try to stop me?"

"That would be me, Pitch."

In a nearby alley, a figure walked out wearing armor that was black with golden trimmings with a red cape attached. It was Kozmotis Pitchiner who walked out. He easily removed the large scythe as he looked at the six with a sorrowful face.

"Forgive me for abandoning you earlier. I realized that it was foolish, but now I'm here to help."

Something about him was different; something in his heart seemed to have been unlocked. His eyes showed the new fervor inside the general. Before any of the Guardians could say anything, Pitch came down from the roofs and stood a distance away from Kozmotis.

"So did you finally gain a backbone? I must congratu-"

Kozmotis did not let his darker persona finish his sentence as he pointed the sickle at Pitch.

"Quit with the sarcasm. You have overshadowed my body for ages, taking my sanity into the depth of my mind. You tormented so many innocent people with your nightmares causing this world's corrupted history. Worst of all… you made me hurt my own daughter, of all people."

Everyone's eyes widened as the general spoke. They didn't know how Pitchiner found out but that didn't matter right now. Kozmotis had this newfound strength in him, a strength that would push him to face the fears in his mind.

Pitch was surprised at first but tried to hide his worry with a scowl.

"Well then, I will have to rid of you."

With a snap of the Nightmare King's fingers a single Fearling horse appeared. Rather than attacking the beast with his scythe, Kozmotis placed his free hand in front of him.

"Like I have seen in your memories, 'you're nothing but a bad dream.'"

When the Fearling came in contact with Pitchiner's hand, it had stopped and suddenly began to glow. Everyone was blinded for a bit and when they looked back, the stallion had transformed. It had changed into the same color as Dream sand and had transformed into a Pegasus. The horse flew away as Kozmotis faced Pitch.

"You may share my body with me but we are two completely different beings. I will finally rid you and those Fearlings out of me like I should've tried ages ago instead of hiding away."

The general was the first one to make a move as he brought his scythe forward. Pitch used his sand to create his own scythe to counter back. When Pitch tried to use his black sand, Kozmotis negated the attack with his will to keep on.

As the two men clashed, Natty and the Guardians wasted no time in rushing in to assist the general. Weapons clashed, magic blasted, brute force used, this kept being the pattern as this epic strife of good versus evil continued.

In a battle of seven against of one, of course Pitch would grow tired. Pitch tried to summon more of his nightmare horses as a last resort but ended up with puffs of sand. Everyone stood there, watching the Nightmare King struggle.

"W-What is going on? My power…"

Jack walked closer to Pitch as he leaned on his staff.

"Well you did sort of say that you relied on the general's fear to make you strong. Does he look scared to you guys?"

The others shook their heads in response to Jack's snarky remark as Pitch truly showed worry. Kozmotis walked over to his scared counterpart as he kneeled in front of him.

"It's over Pitch. You have no more control. Any last words?"

The general slowly brought his hand towards Pitch, who said his final words when Pitchiner's hand was centimeters from touching him.

"There will always be fear. No one can deny that."

"Goodbye, Pitch Black."

Kozmotis touched the Boogeyman, purifying as much of the dark spirit as he could. As the other six watched Pitch's body glow, everything else seemed to disappear. The emptiness continued to spread until their vision went black.


	8. Chapter 8: See As Redemption

**Hey guys, here's the newest chapter. Honestly, I'm kinda eh on this one but it still is good in my opinion. Anyway hope you like it enjoy!**

* * *

Things were starting to be clear after the sudden burst of light from Pitch. The Guardians and Natty opened their eyes to see themselves back in Pitch's lair. Bunnymund ran up the stairs leading to lair to ensure that they still were not in Pitch's memories. The sound of something striking wood and Bunny grumbling about hitting the bed verified their assumptions.

"We're out…"

"But, what happened to Pitch and the general?"

"That man has been expelled out."

Everyone turned their heads to look in the direction they remembered Pitch standing at, before being brought into his mind. In the shadows, a figure walked over and picked up the locket which was still open, now playing the message. They closed the cover, and placed the accessory around their neck before looking towards a beam of light.

"It feels so good to see and feel light after all this time."

The figure walked into the light letting everyone see the man in full view. He looked as if he was an intermediate between Kozmotis Pitchiner and Pitch Black. His dark hair only appeared to be brown in the light. His face was shaped as it was before the general's transformation into darkness and his skin was no longer grey. The armor that the general had worn before was the same but it looked as if black wisps came from it.

The man looked at the six with a smile on his face.

"Why did you all not tell me that Seraphina was Mother Nature?"

That's when they realized it was Kozmotis Pitchiner, who had regained control of his mind and body. Natty came forward and explained their reasoning of hiding that detail to the general.

"The thought that you were used to harm to your own daughter, we thought it would traumatize you."

The general sighed and looked at the ground, still with the smile on his face.

"Before meeting you all, that probably would've happened to me. But after convincing to relive memories of the bond Seraphina and I shared, when I saw Pitch harm my daughter in his memories, I realized that he wasn't me. Deep in, I think I was scared of trying to be escape because I would fear that people would reject me because of his actions."

"You and Pitch are two different beings, Kozmotis. Both sharing a body, but with hearts completely different."

"All that bugger knew was fear, and you, you've proven yourself to be completely opposite of him. That just means you gain the trust of all of us."

"Thank you for saving me, all of you. I'm so relieved that those Fearlings have left me."

"You can never rid of us general, we are still here!"

Everyone looked towards the cages of the lair to see many of them filled to the brim with Fearlings. All the voices resonated and echoed throughout the underground cavern as they spoke to the general.

"We have held you captive for so long, Pitch's powers will remain imbedded inside you. You have the burden of carrying his black sand. And many of our brethren escaped to the outside world, working to infect this land."

Kozmotis looked at his hand and saw how small particles of black sand came from it. But instead of being shocked, he concentrated and shaped the sand at whim. The general looked forward as he shouted at the caged demons.

"I don't care if this sand remains in my power. I see it as my redemption to this world. I will control this so I can stop you or any others of your kind!"

"No, this isn't the reaction we wanted to see! No… no, no, no, no NO!"

The Fearlings shrieked as their attempt to scare the general failed and seemed to quiet at the face of defeat.

As the noise of the Fearlings calmed down, Natty walked to Kozmotis and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Well general, for now, I guess there's only one thing left to do."

The Guardians remembered the main objective as Kozmotis looked up.

"My little dream… will she still accept after what Pitch did?"

North placed his arm on the general's shoulder, pushing the man forward.

"Only one way to find out! To the sleigh!"

The seven of them left the prison world so they could go to the one place where this ordeal would finally be settled.

* * *

After an exciting sleigh ride, the vehicle finally reached the Sanctuary. Natty guided them once again into the forest haven. When they reached the clearing with the frozen pond, they saw animals surrounding pond, as if guarding the person frozen inside. At the sight of Kozmotis, most of the smaller animals hid behind the much bigger animals, who growled at the man.

Natty sighed at the animals' action and walked towards the creatures.

"That isn't Pitch guys, trust me. He's just a father that wants to reunite with his daughter."

The animals looked at each other before nodding their heads. The animals left the clearing to do their own agendas while Kozmotis and the Guardians walked closer. Pitchiner kneeled in front of the frozen body of water, to see Mother Nature, unchanged since the last time the Guardians saw her.

Kozmotis ran his hand across the ice above Seraphina's face, as if he was stroking her cheek.

"She's grown so much in all these years. I wish I could've been there to see it."

"You can start that now general."

"So… how do we get her out of the ice?"

There was a bit of awkward silence when they hadn't thought of that. The seven of them were unaware that the Man in the Moon had revealed himself in the sky. When they were not looking, MiM had brought his beam of moonlight to the pond.

It was only when the ice began to sparkle in the moonlight, did everyone see what Manny had done. Then Manny brought a second beam of light onto Kozmotis and Natty. The general looked at the moon squinting at it, feeling something familiar.

"Tsar?"

MiM didn't respond to Kozmotis, for the light from the lake became blinding.

Everyone shielded their eyes, annoyed for the fact at how many times it has happened.

* * *

Kozmotis and Natty placed their hands down as the intensity of the light weakened. When they opened their eyes, they saw that they weren't in the clearing. No, they were in a bedroom that looked familiar to them, Seraphina's bedroom to be exact.

"Did MiM just us into her memories? Why?"

"Perhaps it will be how we can rid of Pitch's curse on her."

"Wait… where are the Guardians?"

Their wonder of where the others were was interrupted when they heard a door open and saw a teenage Mother Nature walk over to a window. She picked up framed picture that carried a photo of her father.

Seraphina looked out the window staring into the distance. There she saw a shadow that she recognized and quickly left the room. Kozmotis and Natty decided to follow the girl. They watched as Seraphina left the house to meet with the person walking towards her.

"Uncle Lunar, how was your visit to my father, is he doing well?"

The colonel's face came into view but it was mournful rather than calm. In his hand, he held the general's locket. Tsar Lunar gave her the locket and told her to look inside. Seraphina recognized the jewelry as her gift to her father before he left. Hesitantly, she opened the locket and watched as the message of her father play.

Tsar walked over to the girl who he saw had tears in her eyes.

"Your father was on his last legs when I saw him. I tried to use my magic but the effects were far too gone to cure with my power. I'm sorry Sera."

"Daddy, no… No I don't want to lose him!"

The young girl let the tears run as she hugged her guardian for support. Lunar comforted the girl as she let her emotions flow out.

Kozmotis and Natty had seen the entire ordeal play out as they watched from the sides. Natty looked at the general, who she could see felt guilty for making his daughter feel this way.

The scene has suddenly changed into the vast depths of space. A small sail ship was floating away from the Pitchiner home. Everyone watched as the home was consumed by darkness. Seraphina was watching her home being destroyed, from the side of the ship. She held her father's locket, which was around her neck, when she felt Lunar placed his hand on the girl's shoulder as Seraphina turned to him.

"We'll find a way to bring Kozmotis back, but first we need to get to safety. There's a world called Earth that has yet to be consumed by the Fearlings."

The ship was heading to a portal, where the planet Earth was in sight. Just then, the darkness that was consuming the home began to follow the vessel. As the ship passed through the portal black sand began to surround it.

"Oh no, Sera stay here."

Seraphina nodded her head as she watched her guardian confront the black sand. All the sand had gathered up to form Pitch Black who stood in the middle of the deck. Pitch didn't say anything but produced a black scythe. He sliced the ship in half, leaving Tsar Lunar on one half and Seraphina on the other.

"Nightmares will fill this new world, and they will know the fear I create. You will not be able to stop that Lunar."

Pitch disappeared as his black sand descended into Earth. Seraphina watched the shell of a man that was once her father, disappear, but only for a second. Soon the ship couldn't stay together and was splitting apart.

Natty and Kozmotis were on the side of the ship Seraphina was on and tried to keep steady. The young Mother Nature yelled for Lunar as his side of the ship was about to crash into Earth's moon.

"Don't worry Sera, I'll watch over you from here! We will find a way to bring your father back, I promise."

As Lunar's half of the ship crashed into the moon, Seraphina's side was starting to break apart in the atmosphere. The young girl used her magic to try to protect herself. The clouds in the atmosphere gathered together to create a sort of barrier to protect the girl.

Natty and Kozmotis were separated in the impact, Kozmotis flying somewhere in the forest while Natty flew towards a field. Kozmotis continued to watch Seraphina as she grew accustomed to her new surroundings and grew into the beautiful spirit she was today. Natty, on the other hand, had blacked out from the impact and remained unconscious.


	9. Chapter 9: Never Forget

**Well here's the newest chapter. Will this be the one where Kozmotis finally reunites with his daughter? Everyone is just going to have to read and find out. Read and review if you'd like!**

* * *

It was the sound of a child giggling that woke up the young apprentice. After shaking her head, Natty saw herself in the field and tried to look for the source of the laughter. There she saw a young girl, probably no older than four, with brown hair wearing a Victorian dress. She carried a basket filled to brim with vegetables, nuts, and some grains.

The girl was looking around cautiously making sure no one saw her enter the nearby forest. Natty followed, curious to why this girl was in Mother Nature's memories.

Natty followed the girl to a riverbed and sat in a tree as she watched her. The girl placed down her basket as she let out a whistle. Soon, rodents and mammals came out of the bushes and walked to the girl. She giggled as the animals nuzzled against her with their fur.

"Heheheh, hi guys I snuck some food from Nanny's pantry. Hope you guys like it."

The girl purposely spilled the basket's contents as the animals took a piece of food. When the critters finished their snack, they played with the in the water.

Natty smiled at the girl's actions. She was so energetic and spirited, but the question remained: why was she in Seraphina's memories?

The youth let her feet soak in the riverbed as she petted the animals beside her.

"Nanny says that Papa's probably fighting now. I hope he comes home soon."

The little girl looked down and swung her legs in the water as she talked to the animals.

"Maybe when daddy comes home I can bring him here so we can all play together."

The animals climbed all over the girl and continued to nuzzle her, as if it was their way of promising. A voice in the distance reached the girl's ears as she sat up.

"Natalie! Where are you?"

"Ah, Nanny! Coming! I have to go now but I promise that I'll bring daddy when he comes home."

Natty's eyes widened when she heard the person in the distance call for the girl with the same name as herself. She watched as the girl dried her feet off and left the critters that she called her friends. That is when Natty saw her.

Mother Nature had come out of the forest as she watched the girl leave. Something in the woman's eyes showed pity for the girl. Seraphina sighed as she looked into the sky.

"Tsar, I know you'll be able to hear me from up there. That little girl... there's something special about her. I've seen her come here multiple times, but with no one else. I know she has relatives but they all seem to resent her, because of the fact she is an 'wild' child. Yet, she always retains that youthful smile and finds friends with the animals who love her…"

Natty hopped down from the tree and watched Nature return to the forest. As the scene changed from the forest to a rainy cemetery, Natty saw the general from the distance. She called Kozmotis over as she stood in the rain.

"There you are Natalie, what exactly are you looking at?"

"I-I think this how I was born… made into a spirit."

* * *

In the rain the young Natalie was wearing black clothing as she cried in front of one grave stone. Through her hiccups the child uttered one word.

"*hic* D-Daddy *hic*"

As the girl cried, the adults stood behind her gathered together. They whispered to themselves so the child wouldn't hear.

"Well, what do we do now? Now that her father is gone, no one is stopping us from getting rid of her. That little nuisance's nanny is going to pass on soon enough."

"Well we can't just kill the child; our family name will be in ruins."

"Why not "lose" her in the forest? That way we won't be blamed for her disappearance."

"Perfect she will never suspect a thing, that little spawn."

Unaware to anyone in the memory, Seraphina watched the selfish adults. Alas, she was unable to do anything to stop their actions; it was not in her place to.

The scene changed from the cemetery to a clearing in the forest. Little Natalie was sitting in the middle, crying for the relatives that abandoned her. Seraphina looked at the girl from behind the trees before looking at the full moon with pleading eyes.

"MiM, she doesn't deserve a life like this. It's hard to lose family, and I know. I was lucky to have you to watch over me. I know it sounds selfish of me I know. But please Tsar…"

Manny was hesitant but agreed to Seraphina's request. The Man in the Moon sent a beam of light to the little girl. Without the little Natty noticing the Man in the Moon's magic began to work. Her body was now blessed by him and she was now a spirit like Seraphina now.

Animals came out to the clearing when they saw the moonlight. They watched the little girl for a bit before going over and cuddling with Natty.

The child, barely having any memory of her past life, opened her eyes felt soft fur and things licking her. The youth laughed at the animals' antics when she noticed the woman in front of her. Some of the animals seemed to sit next to the lady as she spoke to the girl.

"Hello there little one."

"Huh? Who are you?"

"You may have heard of me as Mother Nature."

Natalie stood up with a jolt of surprise.

"Wah! Are you really Mother Nature?!"

Seraphina just giggled at the child's sudden enthusiasm as she nodded her head.

"My name's Natalie but you can call me Natty!"

"Natty, what a cheerful name. You know, a lost child like you shouldn't be here alone, would you like to come with me to my home?"

Without a second thought she agreed and grabbed the woman's hand. They walked further into the forest until they disappeared from Natty and Kozmotis view of the memory.

The scene had changed once more to the clearing in the Sanctuary. The memory Natty appeared a bit older as she was played with a resistant Bunnymund, pulling on his fur, not realizing her actions.

"So fluffy!"

"Gah! I know yah havin' fun little bugger but get off!"

In his efforts to dismount the girl, Natty fell off head first into the grass. Natalie sat up and rubbed her head as tears began to form. The Easter Bunny realized what happened and panicked. He tried to rub the bump that had grown on top of the child's head, but he had pressed a bit too hard and made it hurt the girl more.

"Aster…"

Bunnymund heard the irritated voice of Seraphina. He looked back hesitantly to see Seraphina, glaring at him with a threatening aura.

"N-Nature, it was a' accident! I swea'!"

Seraphina ignored the Pooka's testimony as she snapped her fingers. A small cloud appeared behind Bunnymund and a lightning bolt hit the mammal's backside. The large rabbit continued to be chased by the small thundercloud until he summoned a hole and escaped.

Seraphina sighed and picked up her adopted child. The woman sat down with the child in her arms. As the forest seemed quieted, Seraphina's voice echoed throughout the clearing.

"_Leaves from the vine,_

_Falling so slow_

_Like fragile tiny shells_

_Drifting in the foam"_

Natty stopped her crying as she heard the song. The pain from hitting her head had been depressed as her attention was more towards Mother Nature's singing.

"_Little soldier boy, come marching home,_

_And brave soldier come marching home…"_

"Mother… I always hear you sing that song. Is it special?"

Mother Nature looked down to see Natty looking at her with curious eyes and smiled.

"To me, yes. Someone very dear to my heart sang it to me when I was around your age. This lullaby is always my wish."

"Your… wish?"

Seraphina nodded her head as she looked toward the night sky.

"That person disappeared a long time ago. But, no matter how it will take, I will always wait for them to come home. My wish to see that brave person to come home."

"So… are you waiting for a soldier to come home? Can I meet him when he does?"

"Of course Natalie."

Mother Nature patted the child's head. A few seconds later Natty hopped out of Seraphina's arms and held out a few seeds.

"Watch this Mother, I've been practicing."

The child dropped the small objects and concentrated her powers. Soon pink carnations popped from the seeds and Natalie picked them the plants. Seraphina clapped her hands as her way to congratulate the girl.

"They mean a mother's love!"

"Mother's love… You always seem to surprise me don't you?"

Little Natty placed the flora into Seraphina's hair. After setting them in the woman's hair, the child embraced her caretaker.

"I love you mommy."

"I love you as well Natalie."

* * *

The much older Natty slowly began to remember these events from her perspective. When she and the Guardians were sent into the general's memories, sent to when Seraphina and Kozmotis bonded, this is what it reminded her of. The time she spent with Seraphina as a child. Natty's love for her own guardian was growing stronger as her own memories flowed. Seraphina had taken her in when her own rejected her, without a second thought. She had taken in the responsibilty of raising her along with her duties to maintain this world. For that Natalie was grateful.

Kozmotis, on the other hand, was taking in what Seraphina had said. Throughout the eons of her memories, he had seen her say the same thing over and over. She always believed that he would return. She had treasured the lullaby he had sung to her on the night he left. Something so simple would remain in her memories. He felt a great deal of euphoria knowing his daughter always believed in his homecoming.

One tear descended from each of their faces and as they dropped to the ground the entire place rippled. A large gust of wind appeared out of nowhere and both Natty and Kozmotis closed their eyes. When they opened them once again, the two of them saw themselves in a field of flowers.

Natty kneeled down to take a closer look at the plants and saw that they were all the same kind.

"Forget-me-nots…"

Kozmotis looked across the field and his eyes widened. The general ran forward and Natty soon followed. There they saw an adult Mother Nature, but in grim condition.

She was floating in mid-air, surrounded by a sphere of black sand. When Natty tried to touch the barrier that divided her from her caretaker, she pulled back and winced in pain. Natty shook her hand to remove any black sand on her hand.

"This must be the real her…"

Kozmotis looked inside the sand sphere to see his daughter's face scrunched up, as if facing a nightmare. The general placed his hands in front of him as he warned the girl beside him to step back. As the young apprentice obliged, Kozmotis Pitchiner used his newfound powers to control the black sand.

The sand began to pull away from Seraphina as it condensed into a small ball between his hands. When the last grain was away from the woman, Kozmotis crushed the orb of sand in his hands, making it disappear for good.

Seraphina's body seemed to shrink until she had the appearance of a child. She groggily opened her eyes like she had just woken up. The child's eyes grew wide when she looked at the man in front of her.

"D-Daddy?"

"Sera…"

The youth began to tear up as she ran towards Kozmotis.

"Daddy!"

Just as she was about to come in contact with the man she knew as her father, Seraphina's entire body glowed white. The petals from all the plants in the field were picked up by a sudden wind and blinded the two. Soon Natty and Kozmotis were brought back into unconsciousness once again.

* * *

**Man I felt evil doing this last part. Anyway I had a bit of delay of posting this because finals were murderous to me. The next one shouldn't take as long and as far as I can tell, some feels will arise.**


	10. Chapter 10: Love is Home

**Yeah I was gonna wait until I had most of the last chapter, an epilogue, typed up but I've been distracted lately with school. With that I've decided to just post up this chapter and post the epilogue whenever I finish it. Anyway hope you guys like.**

* * *

Many years ago, during the last years of the Golden Age, Tsar Lunar had arrived that the Fearling prison. He was ecstatic to see his old friend for it had been quite some time since he last saw him. But as he stood in front of the entrance, something felt off.

The closer Tsar approached the prison; a wave of hesitation hit him. The previous times he had visited, the unpleasant feeling was not there. The short man continued on, walking though the stronghold, worrying that something was wrong.

"Kozmotis, where are you?!"

"T-Ts-Tsar? Is that you?"

The white haired man looked toward a cage and saw a tall figure standing by it for support. Recognizing the voice as Kozmotis's he ran over there. What he saw next shocked him.

The Pitchiner's skin was ash grey, his hair turned black, his armor was slowly withering away in black sand. The general's face was scrunched in pain.

"Kozmotis, what has happened to you?"

The general didn't have time to answer as Fearlings that were still in cages spoke for him.

"_This idiot fell for trap! "Daddy please, I'm scared!" All we had to do was imitate his daughter and he was doomed."_

Tsar felt his anger building up in him. How dare these monsters manipulate Seraphina's voice! They knew of Kozmotis's love for his daughter and used it against him. Before Lunar could lash out at the demonic creatures, he felt a shaking hand on his shoulder.

"Tsar, there is nothing you can do now. The Fearlings are taking over my body. I don't know how much longer I can stay in control."

"Kozmotis you have to fight it! What about Seraphina?! Even after all these years she still loves you. She'll be heartbroken."

Kozmotis took his hand off his friend as reached for the locket around his neck.

"My friend, I'm already at the point of no return. Nothing in this age can cure me at this state."

The general placed the locket in Tsar's hands as he struggled with one last smile.

"Take this locket, if there's any sliver of hope of my return, this will be the key."

A jolt went through Kozmotis as he went on his hands and knees. The black sand around him started to move erratically. Tsar Lunar tried to approach the general but Kozmotis stopped him. The Pitchiner looked at the man in front of him, the gold in his eyes growing darker each second.

"I can't hold on much longer, you have to get out of this place! Tell Seraphina… Daddy will always love her."

"Kozmotis, my friend… I will find a way to get you out of this curse. Stay strong."

A scream of agony game from Kozmotis as his consciousness was being consumed by the Fearlings. With haste, Tsar left the prison. When he was a distance away, he could hear Kozmotis scream once again. Suddenly the entire prison was shrouded in black sand. The scream stopped and was replaced by a villainous laugh.

Tsar looked at the locket in his hands, and with hesitation opened it.

* * *

Right now, the Guardians were all trying to hack away at the frozen pond Mother Nature lied in. After the light from Manny's moonbeams died down, the five protectors saw Kozmotis and Natty on the grass unconscious. Though they didn't worry because this was MiM's doing, they decided to take some course of action.

Jack and Bunny were using their weapons to hit the ice in any attempt to make a crack. North had gone back to his workshop to get the equipment he used for making ice sculpture toys. Tooth and Sandy were watching over the unconscious general and apprentice, Sandy providing them with pleasant dreams.

North returned from the open portal to his workshop, carrying a sack of tools. Large man placed the sack down and dug his hands inside the bag.

"Jack, Bunny, move out of the way, I am bringing big toys now."

Out of the sack, North took out a chainsaw. As soon as the piece of equipment's motor was running Bunnymund panicked and stood in front of North.

"Whoa, whoa whoa! Hold up North. We want to get Nature out of the ice! NOT cut her into pieces!"

"Yeah hold up! I'm think I'm at a breakthrough guys!"

From North and Bunny saw, Jack was whacking the ice with his staff like the stick was a pickaxe. After a few seconds the ice did indeed have a fracture. Soon the small crack began to spread across the frozen pond and everyone was slowly stepping back.

As the sounds of the ice breaking continued, Sandy and Tooth watched as Kozmotis and Natty were waking up from their slumber. The girl was first to wake up as Tooth check and asked what had happened.

"I-It's nothing Tooth, we just went through a stroll down memory lane. What happened while we wer- Why does North have chainsaw?!"

North looked at Natty, who seemed back to a somewhat chipper mood, and then back at the large object in his hand. He turned it off and placed the thing behind his back as if it was never there. Bunny broke North's façade when he popped up behind the larger man.

"North here was gonna use this and try to cut Nature out of the ice."

"What?! That pond is on like, two feet deep! You'd probably kill her before she could wake up."

"I make ice sculptures with this thing. I will be precise."

"Asdfjkl;!"

Before an argument could arise, the sound of sand falling could be heard. Kozmotis had fully awakened when he saw the frozen pool of water cracking still.

From the cracks in the ice, black sand floated up into the air until they disappeared into nothing. Everyone stayed silent as the flow of the flowing sand continued until the last grain left the cracks. Soon the crackling ice continued to break apart, when they saw Seraphina opening her eyes.

Chunks of ice scattered throughout the clearing and as the seven watched Mother Nature stand in the now dry pond. Natty stood up and ran over to Seraphina before giving the woman a hug.

"Mother you're up!"

"Natty… I'm glad see you. And Guardians, I am grateful for your help in freeing me."

Jack, from the side walked up and faced Seraphina.

"You know… We can't take all the credit for it. There is someone pretty important who made this happen."

The Guardians and Natty stepped back to bring the general into the woman's sight. Kozmotis and Seraphina stared at each other, unsure of what to say. Seeing as how the others were watching them, Natty decided to take some action.

"I think it's time we leave this family alone. Hey, why don't I show you guys around the Sanctuary?"

The Guardians caught on to the girl's plans and followed along leaving the father and daughter alone in the clearing.

* * *

The general looked down, nervous at the thought of looking his own child in the eye after what he did as Pitch. Without him noticing, Seraphina slowly stepped towards him.

"S-Sera, I-I-"

Kozmotis couldn't even start his sentence when Seraphina brought him into an embrace. The general's eyes widened at feeling of his daughter in his arms and quickly, but hesitantly, hugged back. Seraphina rested her head on her father's armor was tears fell from her cheeks.

"I missed you so much daddy. I knew that someday you'd come back."

"Sera, h-how can you forgive me so easily? After what Pitch did to this when he controlled me? Especially to you…"

Seraphina looked up to the older Pitchiner with a smile on her face.

"Because, I knew that deep inside you were still in there, trapped. I just didn't know how to get you out or how long it would take."

Kozmotis smiled at his little girl as he wiped away the tears from her face before bring hugging her once more.

"You truly have grown into a beautiful woman, my little dream."

"Papa, I've always wondered… Why do you call me your dream?"

"Because Seraphina, not only were you your mother and my dream come true. You were what kept me going during the war. When the war would be over and I'd be relieved of my duties. I could always be with you. And watch you… grow up…"

Kozmotis quieted after saying that. Before Seraphina knew it, it was her father that was crying into her shoulder.

"I'm sorry I couldn't be stronger, that I couldn't see past the Fearlings' illusions in time. If only I had been, then I wouldn't have had to make you suffer for so long. Sera, I'm so sorry for everything."

"You have nothing to be sorry for father. What happened, it was because of your love for me. You couldn't help it and you shouldn't be sorry for that. What has happened in the past is history. You can start anew here."

Mother Nature hugged her father tighter as tears of joy ran down her face once again.

"Welcome back Daddy…"

Kozmotis rested his head on his daughter's as he smiled.

"Seraphina… I'm home."

Out of nowhere, butterflies flew into the clearing and landed on the father and daughter. The two ignored them as they were overwhelmed with happiness to be reunited once more.

* * *

In the foliage of trees, the Guardians had been watching the moment in silence.

"Now there is a happy ending."

"The general deserves it, after what he's been through…"

"Butterflies were very nice touch. Well done Natalie…"

"Where did she go?"

Unaware to the Guardians, Natalie was a distance away, watching the family reunite from the trees. On her hand, a butterfly rested there before flying towards Seraphina and Kozmotis. The moment the young girl saw the two embrace and something sparked in Natty's mind.

For a second, the apprentice had seen her guardian as a child while general had picked his daughter up. It had appeared as she had seen it in the depths of Kozmotis's memories.

"You two deserve this after being apart for so long. Hmm… now that I think about it does this make Kozmotis my grandpa?"

Natalie shook the thought out of her head for later. The trees opened up so Natty could see the moon barely visible in the afternoon sky. Natalie looked up and smiled.

* * *

On the moon, Tsar Lunar stood there with a smile on his face. His friend had overcome Pitch Black's control and could truly live on with his daughter.

True, the Man in the Moon couldn't meet with his old friend physically due to his duties of watching the children of Earth, but he could at least he could watch and talk to him.

If Kozmotis were to be in any threating danger once again, the Man in the Moon knew that the Guardians, Seraphina, and Natty would assist in anyway. For now he would let the hands of time take their place.

* * *

**Welp, there you have it. I hope you guys like this story. The epilogue will eventually be up but there is no estimated time. For now, I'll leave this story as in-progress until the epilogue is up. If you'd like review this if you want.**


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